


EMPTY NEST

by ismellitblue



Series: rolling along [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 07:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10079789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismellitblue/pseuds/ismellitblue
Summary: The mind might forget,but the heart always remembers.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own young justice.

Lex Luthor knows a lot of things,but the one thing he knows best… is his mind.

As such, when he finds himself driving by Excelsior and actually stopping and looking at the school gate,waiting for someone to come out, he knows something is wrong.He can’t pinpoint what it is, so he drives away and puts the strange act down to stress.

The incident is the first among a series of events he can’t quite explain ,but knows mean something.And if there’s one thing Lex Luthor hates more than Superman, it’s unanswered questions.

A few weeks later ,the sight of Superman’s nine year old son,Jonathan,the future _Superboy,_ sents him on a rampage.The thought of the boy being handed the title,makes him feel like it’s being stolen from its rightful owner(he doesn’t know who,but he’s very certain it’s _not_ Jonathan Kent).

He finds Superman and pummels him into the ground ,channeling all his rage through the limbs of the robotic suit he’s wearing.He lands his first hit on the man of steel…and doesn’t stop.He’s aware that there’s a tiny almost worried voice talking in his ear..Mercy.And of the fact that he’s destroying very large chunks of his own property,but he can’t make himself stop.

When fists aren’t enough anymore, he resorts to kicking and at some point he’s certain he head-butts an airborne Superman, but he’s too out of it to be certain.

He raises his left arm and charges up, preparing to deliver another blow.Superman chooses that moment to open one eye(not that he could open the other even if he tried seeing as it’s swollen shut) and Lex can tell he’s terrified.

It’s a look he’s wanted from the man of steel for so long,but now that he has it, it feels hollow.Reassessing the current battle he can understand why Superman is scared.

…He hasn’t been acting according to their script.

Usually Lex does something bad.Superman shows up.Lex boasts about his unstoppable plan.Superman ends his plan before its completed.He carts Lex off to jail and Lex develops convenient amnesia and is set free within a few hours.

Usually.

Today he’d hunted Superman down,shot him from the sky with kryptonite bullets and had began beating the living day lights out of him before the hero even had a chance to strike a righteous pose.

He throws the hero down and walks away without saying a word(It’s only when he gets home and is out of his suit that he realizes there are tears running down his face).

After the _encounter_ with Superman ,he starts paying more attention to things and notices that he’s not the only one acting strangely.

Mercy is trying to hide her change in behavior, but Lex has known her for years and can see through   her immediately.

Whenever they have a meal together she hesitates,holding her fork and knife as though she’s about to cut food on someone else’s plate.In the Limo she sits with her body shifted towards the empty space in the middle of the seat.Like she’s trying to protect someone small in case anything goes wrong.

Chastity as well is struggling with the same unknown foe.Lex has seen her making a lunchbox early in the morning,only to stop and look down as though expecting to see someone there.She also carries snacks in her right pocket instead of having ammunition in both, like she’s always done.

Even his father is acting strange.In every video call,he’s always looking in the background as though waiting for someone to pass by.He hesitates before ending calls like he’s waiting for someone other than Lex, to bid him farewell.

_“Dad!,were gonna be late come on,you promised…”_

_“Now ,now… use your indoor voice, otherwise I’m not buying you the comic”_

_“But it’s Warrior Angel!!”_

_“I know,which why only well behaved Luthors get it”_

_The little boy slipped his tiny hand into Lex’s as they walked out the door and the sound of childish laughter followed him into wakefulness.By the time he reached the bathroom all memories of the child’s features were gone,but the conversation they’d had as well as the warm laughter  would not leave his mind._

 

The dream is the last straw.Summing it up with everything that has been happening,Lex turns his investigation outwards.

…Surely someone is trying to bring him down by driving all of them insane.

He has a lot of enemies, but very few of them actually have the means to get to him.So he starts with the one that might… _might_ have a _miniscule_ chance at _scratching_ the surface.

 

He investigates the Light(he still doesn’t know why he declined an invitation to join them).He doesn’t find them doing anything to target him.However he does find their plans for project Match and destroys their sample of Superman’s DNA.

He tries to tell himself it’s to protect his status as Superman’s number one enemy,but the hollow feeling in his chest intensifies as memories of a tiny hand gripping his fingers tightly resurfaces.

His other leads don’t pan out and he’s just about to give in and ask his father for help when he sees a broadcast on the news.There’s a beam of light in Gotham,that is extraterrestrial in nature.

Lex scoffs in pity at the creature dumb enough to challenge Batman on his home turf.He’s just about to turn off the TV when a reporter says something that catches his attention.

“…There are monsters coming through the portal,but it appears there are also human beings coming through it.The Justice Lea…”Lex doesn’t hear anymore as he’s already calling out to Mercy and Chastity.

Ten minutes later they’re headed to Gotham.

When they reach the site,the battle is over and the heroes are closing the breach.

Lex looks around frantically,but he doesn’t know any of the people being treated by the paramedics.

He looks back at the fading light and something in him just snaps.

“Mercy!”

His bodyguard wrestles Green Arrow to the ground stopping him from firing another sonic arrow, that would most certainly have closed the portal for good.

He barely notices as Chastity joins Mercy as they fight to keep the heroes at bay.Something in the light calls to him and he gets the feeling that whatever he’s been looking for,is waiting for him in the light.

“Luthor,whatever it is that you’re up to….Lex!Stop!-’’

Superman’s frantic pleas fade into the background, as Lex throws himself into the light and the earth fades.

As soon as he enters the light everything comes back to him.

He remembers bright green eyes looking at him with love and adoration.Butterfly kisses being pressed on his head, as he carried a chubby toddler on his shoulders.Terrible drawings made for him, that he put up alongside his Monet collection.

A crayon drawn screensaver,that always put a smile on his face.He remembers,endless nights spent in the hospital,holding a hand so tiny his thumb covered it entirely.Gently supporting a tiny bald head ,as he put a tiny beanie on it.Nights spent reading reports out loud and sharing his favorite Warrior Angel comics.

Piano lessons,solving quadratic equations using finger paint,teaching the Laplace equation while in a tent made of bedcovers and pretending a flashlight was an open fire.

All the memories come back and roll into a huge ball of energy that attaches itself to the spot where his heart should be and a name forms on the billionaire’s lips.

“…Conner”

And just like that,his son materializes in front of him.Lex’s knees give out on him and he hugs the boy.The child is clinging to him just as fiercely,sobbing brokenly.

When they leave the void,Lex holds him tight,and doesn’t let go even as he feels some unknown force trying to rip Conner from him.It peels away his skin,layer by layer ,breaking his bones.He doesn’t let go and forces his legs to keep moving ,all the while shielding Conner’s body.His lungs feel like he’s inhaling brimstone,and he tastes  blood with every breath he takes,but he keeps walking.

The more steps he takes,the easier it becomes to move. He can still feel,whatever is trying to keep them in the void, but its presence is weaker.Conner shakes violently,everytime the presence tries to take hold.

Memories of a telekinetic force field come to mind,and Lex gently squeezes Conner,at the realization that the kid is  helping him.

***

When Luthor had walked into the portal,they’d all thought it was for some nefarious purpose.

What they hadn’t expected was for him to walk out with…a child.The boy looked too much like Luthor to be anything but his son.The eyes were unmistakable.

Luthor had a child.

All the heroes were too shocked to do anything other than watch as Luthor and his bodyguards walked by.It was a surreal experience.

The most self-centered villain in existence had put his life on the line,for someone else.

Nightwing was the one to finally break them from their stupor.

“I am beyond,whelmed right now”


End file.
